Perhaps a young college student has found one of the issues with oversights in government spending.
In a wild twist on offering support to veterans, Allen Smith, the son of a former American veteran, receives monthly allowances through Veterans Affairs. This is something that is offered to all veterans, who can use it for their own education, or offer it to one of their children or dependents.
The fund accounts to a cool $650/month. A nice little stipend to help out with all things related to academia. When his most recent check came, he found that the “bank made a favor in his error.” To the tune of $690,000,000. Yeah. That’s over a half billion dollars.
What would you do? Goodness. That’s a tough one, isn’t it? Realistically, you’re not even depositing that sucker without a two business week hold to ensure that it’s accurate. So, it eventually comes out in the wash. If it were cash…? Different story. Even still, the 22 year old Smith immediately took the check to the VA Offices at Fort Benning, and alerted them of their mistake. He may have also thrown in a “…but I still need my $650…can I get that check now?”
It was an act of high character, and I applaud him, though I hope he took a picture of it and Tweeted it.
What is most perplexing about the whole situation: Where was the check supposed to go in the first place? Was it a computer, or management error? A hacker? Or was it destined for an individual or purpose? Heck yeah, I wanna know.
